1. Field of the Invention
The apparatus of the present invention relates to devices for cleaning the grates of cookery fired by wood, charcoal, gas (butane or propane) and the like. Grills for outdoor cooking by such as charcoal or gas have become increasingly more popular in recent years. Such grills typically build up deposits of food, grease, sauces and oils used in the cooking, which carbonize and are both unattractive to look at and difficult to remove.
2. General Background of the Invention up on cooking grills. These have ranged from various styles of scraping devices to stiff-bristled brushes. Several patents illustrate the development of the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,824,323 to Tos, et al, illustrates a combination grill scraper and a brush. The scraper (17, 40, 43) and brush 30 are removable from the handle such that the scraper blades may be changed and the brush optionally attach. The blade is specified to be of a hardened metal such that the edges remain sharp.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,354 to Stevens teaches a grill cleaner having a handle with flexible parallel bars upon which are mounted rotatably mounted, spaced disks. Each disc is made of a hard metal, such as tool steel, and has uniformly spaced notches in its periphery.
The grill cleaning device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,185 to Phillips incorporates a blade formed of a single strip of metal, bent at one end to form the blade and incorporating two differently sized slots, and the other end of which is encased in a handle. The twist is illustrated to be about 90 degrees and provides additional strength to the handle extension for the cleaning operation.
Another version of a grill scraping tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,537 to Heuck. In contrast to the previously discussed embodiments wherein the scraping blades or discs were mounted essentially perpendicular to the handle, the Heuck device has a rotatable, circular blade having a plurality of circumferential extensions containing U-shaped indentations of varying diameters/widths. The user selects the particular extension having the U-shaped opening to best fit the rods or wires of the grill and rotates that extension into position for cleaning. In the Heuck version, the plane of the blade is slightly (an acute angle) offset from the axis of the handle.
Design Pat. 264,543 to Ashley illustrates a grill scraper having a square blade disposed perpendicular to the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,342 to Amundsen illustrates a tubular handle with tubular blade extensions on either ends of the handle. Each end includes a single slot to form a cutting edge for cleaning the grill.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,302 illustrates a grill cleaning tool having a stationary blade, the plane of which is in line with the axis of the handle. The blade has a plurality of differently shaped recesses to be selectively used to clean the wires or bars of a grill. The tool blade is described as being die cut from a sheet of galvanized steel.
Design Pat. 304,892 to Bevilacqua illustrates a grill cleaner having a structure somewhat similar to that of Ashley, however having a triangularly shaped blade with different sized/shaped slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,403 to Martin illustrates a grill scraping tool wherein the blade is rectangular and the lesser sides of which have access slots and transverse slots for receiving the grill wire or rod to be cleaned. Other than being described as metallic, there is no further information as to the structure of the blade.
The tool disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,673 to Carton is amulti-function device including a scouring pad, a brush and a scraping blade extending from the handle, wherein the blade has a single rounded projection intermediate two transverse sections for cleaning the wires or bars of the grill.
Design Pat. 377,251 to Mitchell illustrates a grill cleaning tool similar to the Ashley device, having a rectangular, perpendicularly positioned blade with numerous slots for forming cleaning edges.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,022 to Moran illustrates a combined grill ignitor and scraper device. Extending from the handle is a tube which at its distal end includes the electrodes for generating a spark to ignite such as propane gas contained within the handle for lighting the grill, intermediate the tines is a cleaning edge for scraping the wires or bars of the grill.
Another version of a scraping tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,071 to Hall which includes an ergonomic handle for cleaning the grill with a back and forth motion, the handle terminating in a flat plate having a plurality of teeth attached thereto. The device is intended for the cleaning of commercial grills and broiler grates having a plurality of staves, between which the teeth of the tool extend during cleaning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,693 to Noga is a variation of the Hall tool wherein the plate is oriented vertically with respect to the grill during cleaning (as contrasted to horizontally in Hall) with teeth extending for being received between the rails. The Noga device is distinguished by its being mounted on a downwardly projecting portion of the handle and rotatable so as to be received in grills with varying spacing between the rails.
The grill cleaning tool illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,862 includes a handle with a brush and blade scraper disposed at the distal end and a shield extending generally rearwardly of the brush, under the handle to protect the user from the flame and heat of the grill, should cleaning be carried out while the grill is in operation.
In spite of the numbers and variety of grill cleaning tools in the art, none are completely satisfactory, particularly over a longer term of use. Some tools exhibit the necessary rigid structure to withstand a fairly heavy application pressure during the cleaning process however, that pressure causes the performance of the tool to deteriorate, or in the alternative, to cause unacceptable wear on the grill itself. Prior art devices dull, causing greater necessary effort to accomplish the cleaning, causing added wear, either to the grill or the cleaning device. The present invention utilizes a particular structure and cleaning blade such that the tool delivers an unexpected longevity and does not cause inordinate wear or deterioration of the grill components.